Miami Legal Business Development | Branding | Law Firm Coaching | Paula Black

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Shifting your perspective can open up a world of change...and possibly affect your bottom line.

This week we asked: How easy it for clients to do business with you?

1) Very easy - 24%

2) Easy - 28%

3) Difficult - 0%

4) Very Difficult - 0%

5) I’ve never thought about it - 48%

My Thoughts: Nearly half of you had never even considered this question. But now that your attention is here, it’s something to consider, correct? As Jay Fleischman writes in the piece I mentioned Tuesday:

“It’s been said that your role as a business owner (and yes, you are a business owner if you run your own law firm) is to make it as easy as possible for people to do business with you.  You need to grease the wheels and create a friction-free experience for the potential client.  When you fail to do this, you run the very real risk of losing business – sometimes, without even knowing it.”

Fleischman goes on to suggest five practical ways to make your client's lives easier:

1. Make sure there are magazines in the waiting area-- and that they are geared towards your client base.

2. Ensure your retainer agreement is easy to read and understand.

3. Make sure you have a warm, friendly receptionist.

4. Minimize the amount of work your client has to do.

5. Make sure that your clients can count on you to answer their phone calls- or return them in a timely fashion.

What I like about the piece (link below) is that all of the advice is so simple. It echoes many of the themes we’ve discussed here (market focus, personalization, availability, customer service) but truly applies them to the everyday nuances of running a law office. They are simple, highly effective changes you can make immediately that will make your business life easier by making your client’s experience easier.

Black Pearl: Here’s the article, entitled “5 Ways To Reduce Friction In Your Legal Marketing Efforts.” Read it, consider the changes suggested, and let me know what you think in the comments section below.

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I often approach legal marketing from the perspective of what you can do lure clients in and keep them. I love to hear and read about new theories on networking, Internet usage, credibility.... and it’s rare that I read something that truly shifts my vision and makes me look at legal marketing in a whole new way. This morning I stumbled across a blog post that I found incredibly intriguing (stay tuned for the link on Thursday) not only because of its advice (all very good) but because of its perspective. That perspective? The author was challenging readers to ask themselves if, on a day-to-day basis, they were making it as easy as possible for clients to do business with them? So I will ask you the same:

Question of the week: Are you focused on making your clients' legal experience as smooth & easy as possible?

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The question we are considering this week is: Are you focused on asking questions?

Results

1. I never ask questions. – 20%
2. I ask questions when I remember to. – 0%
3. I have a list of questions in my head that I ask. – 80%
4. I have a list written down that I take to every business development meeting. – 0%

Thanks to everyone who participated in this week's poll...

My Thoughts - A clear split...  80% of you are actively getting clients to talk, and you have the questions in your head. It takes just a few seconds to THINK about questions before you go into a meeting, so why are 20% of you not bothering to do it? Quite frankly most people LOVE to talk about themselves, it's an easy conversation to get started.

Doug Waldorf  from Henderson, Franklin, Starnes & Holt thinks about it this way...

" Ask questions and remember to listen more then you talk. Ask clients about industry trends, the impacts of political and regulatory changes and other matters relating to their business. Everyone likes to share their opinions and be heard, so ask and then follow-up. Show your interest!"

Black Pearl - A little something to think about: Scott Gibson, the managing partner at Gibson, Ferrin & Riggs writes a blog titled BiziBoom. I ran across his post Think Like a Client - Cold, Warm, Hot where he explores the value of listening to your prospect. He received a comment from Gerry Riskin, who adds an interesting perspective... check it out.